Demountable top



Sept? 1934- R. LURBA 1,973,438

' I DEMOUN'IABLE TOP Filed Oct. 11. 19:52

. RAYMOND LURBA 7, INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 11, 1934 i Q MT E TATES FATE? v I f 1,973Q438 DEMOUNTABLE TOP Raymond Lurba, Washington, D. C. Application October 11. 1932, Serial No. 637,312

' *1 Claim. (01. 146-215) My invention relates tondemountable tops, par- For a clearer understanding of my invention ticularly intended for use on tables and thelike reference should be had to the present specifiwhich are subjected to unusualwe'ar when in cation in connection with the accompanying use. Examples-of tables of this kind are the drawing illustrative of one embodiment thereof.

- tables used in stores, factories butcher shops, In said drawing: T. restaurants and the like for treating various Fig. 1 illustrates the invention as applied to a products. More particularly the invention remeat block, the figure being an elevation, partly lates to demountable tops for use with food broken away to show a detail of the construcproducts; such as bakery goods,.candies-, meats tion. and the like which are to be out, chopped or Fig.2 is a plan view of the device shown in otherwise treated upon the table top. Fig. 1, also partly broken away.

Table tops when subjectedto service of this Fig. 3 shows a 'demountable table top as apkind soon become uneven or wearaway, with the plied to a table of diiferent nature, said figure result that the top must be refinished or even being. an exploded View showing how the parts 15 replaced entirely, depending upon the extent of would fit together when assembled. wear and injury it has suffered; This is par- Referring now specifically to Fig. 1 I have ticularly true of table tops whereon materials illustrated the invention as applied to a heavy are chopped or cut by means of knives, because table of the type ordinarily known as a meat the knives, etc., rapidly cut away the wood of chopping block, which is commonly used by which the table top is made. I butchers, restaurants and the like. These blocks The invention relates also to table tops and are ordinarily made of a single unitary block the like which are made demountable in order of Wood which is extremely heavy and bulky, in to make it possible to quickly exchange one top order to provide sufiicient inertia or .solidity to for another, so that each top maybe employed afiord a stable support for meat and the like,

for a'particularpurpose or group of purposes when being chopped thereon. When meat blocks and may notcontamina'te the products of other are thus made oftbut a single unitary block of natures incompatible therewith. Examples of wood, (by which I do not mean, of course, that this are found in restaurz-ints where-various food the block is only a single piece of wood, because products must be handled, some of which it in fact itis usually assembled of a plurality of 30 would be highly undesirable to mix with others pieces standing vertically and glued together to because they would impart foreign and unform a'single block with the end grain exposed wanted flavors thereto." For instance, many at the top) these blocks, although. perfectly people would object to havingthe taste or odors plane and level on topj when new, will soonbe of fish or onions or other highly flavored foods come rough, uneven and out of level, due to the 35 imparted to foods'of other nature devoid-of such fact that when chopping is done thereon most flavors or odors. In this event my invention of the wear will be concentrated at certain parts makes it possible to rapidly remove one top from of the surface. With the unitary blocks formerthe table or the like-and substitute another re- 1y used it then became necessary to have a porserved for the purpose in question, which is a tionsawed off from the top of the block to re- 40 matter of'great importance, particularly where store its level and plane condition. This refloor space is limited-because a single table will quired that the meat block be out of service for sufiice for handling all thevarious-foods and some time during the sawing operation, which the demountable tops can be storedin small is an expensive operation and often is not en spaces when not in use." r 1 tirely satisfactory because. the sawing, when not 'A further advantageof the demountable table performedxwithithe. utmost skill, will'still. leave tops, in accordance with the present invention, the meat block with an uneven surface. Furtheris that they'may readily be removed to a conmore, every time the'surfaceis thus recondi venient place for washing and'otherwise treattioned by sawing it is obvious that. much of the ing them without atthesame-time removing the material of the block is lost, so that eventually 50 entire table. This is o'fgreat importance "for the blockwill become unfit for" further service, the reason that these tables are often very bulky because it has become too light in. weight and and consequently heavy and furthermore it is of insufficient height to be conveniently em possible to continue using the same table with ployed. 1 L a different top thereon while onetop is being In accordancewith my invention I provide a 55 cleaned. 1 demountable top designated by reference chars L10 acter 1 upon a meat block or the like 2, said demountable top having four apertures 3, 4, 5 and 6 therein to cooperate with four dowel pins 7, 8, 9 and 10 respectively. The meat block 2 may be provided with a suitable supporting structure 11, here shown as made of ordinary pipe fittings and the like. Preferably the demountable top 1 and the block 2, when the invention is applied to the meat block, will meet at a plane surface, shown at 12 in Fig. 1, so as to produce sufficient support and solidity. Preferably also the said demountable top 1 may be made with end grain of the wood exposed at the top thereof. At this point it may be well to call attention to the fact that the meat block of some other material having sufficient mass and strength, for example, it may be made of .metal or concrete or other plastic composition,

thus facilitating and cheapening the construction of this portion 2 of the block very materially, while in no way detracting from the usefulness and quality of the whole, due to the fact that the upper exposed surface of the demountable top is an end-grain wooden. surface, just as though the entire blockwere made of such wood.

.Referring now to Fig. 3 I show how the demountable toplmay be removed from the meat block and inserted upon a table or the like of different nature, here shown as a substantially built table of more or less conventional con struction, namely, having a top 13, side rails 14 and legs 15. This table top 13 will have the same dowel pins 7, 8, 9 and 10 therein as were shown in the meat block of Figs. 1 and 2, said pins being properly spaced to fit in the apertures 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the demountable top 1. By arranging the locations of these dowel pins above or approximately above the center points of the table legs it will be evident that a very firm support is provided for the demountable top 1 so that any necessary operations can be performed upon said top when it is applied to the table.

'While I have illustrated two different forms of tables, namely, the meat block and the conventional table form, it should be understood that such illustrations are merely suggestive and that my invention is not to be restricted to these two definite types of tables, but is applicable to any other suitable supports. The only requisite is that the dowel pins '7, 8, 9 and 10 should be present in the support for the demountable top and it is clear that such dowel pins may be provided readily in any support or work bench, thereby making it possible to apply the same demountable top 1 to a plurality of different supports and also making it possible to provide a plurality of different tops 1, all of which are interchangeable with one another and which may be used for various distinct purposes.

It has heretofore been proposed to secure a demountable top to a meat block by means of complicated structures comprising iron .rods, bolts and nuts. A serious objectionto this way of securing a demountable top to a meat block resides in the fact that the demountable top is very much weakened at the points where the bolts are located therein andthis objection is particularly serious because of the relatively slight thickness of the top. A further objection to this construction resides in the fact that much the apertures.

time is lost in securing the top in place or in removing it, thus making it impossible to secure one of the important advantages of the present invention, namely, rapid interchangeability of the table top. A further objection to the placing of metallic bolts and rods in the wooden top is that it decreases the available extent of wood over the said rods so that after even a relatively short time the wood may have been worn down sufficiently for the butchers cleaverv or the like to strike the said bolts and rods and thereby become dulled and possibly even to split the wood at' the weakened parts.

My invention obviates all these objections because nothing but wood is used in the constructionv of thedemountable top, and yet the top may be made to fit as snugly and tightly as may be desired in any particular case by making a correspondingly tight fit of the dowel pins in The same top may in fact be made to fit tightly on one table and more loosely on another, should it be desired to do so.

While I have illustrated and described a construction employing four dowel pins supported in the stationary or non-removable portion of the table and a corresponding number of apertures in the demountable top, it will, of course, be evident this may be reversed, that is, the dowel pins may equally well form a part of the demountable top and the apertures in that case may be provided in the lower part of the table. It is also evident that while four dowel pins and apertures afford a generally satisfactory arrangement, it is by no means necessary to have exactly four, and more or less may be employed as may be thought desirable in any particular instance. Where it is desired to position the demountable top in a definite manner it is also obvious that some of the dowel pins may form a permanent part of the top and others a permanent part of the bottom, so that the demountable top will fit in only a certain way or ways upon the sub-structure.

It will also be obvious that my invention is not in any way restricted to the particular embodiment illustrated, but that modifications may be made in both the material, structure and shapes of the various elements thereof without departing from the invention. Reference should, therefore, berhad to the accompanying claim wherein the invention is defined.

Having thus described an embodimentof my invention and explained some of the advantages thereof, I claim: I

A chopping block installation comprising a plurality of supports, one of said supports being relatively heavy and each support having a plurality of dowel pins projecting from its upper surface, those of the relatively heavy support being made of wood, and a flat relatively thin and light slab of wood having apertures therein spaced properly to fit interchangeably on the dowel pins of the various-supports, said slab having the grain of wood extending substantially at right angles to its upper surface, said relatively heavy support having an upper surface shaped to make intimate contact throughout its entire extent with the lower surface of the said wooden slab, which has a correspondingly shaped surface, each of said dowel pins extending in a direction normal to said surfaces of contact. and said dowel pins constituting the sole means for securing the slab interchangeably to any of the said supports.

RAYMOND LURBA. 

